Stake Conference

I just remembered that I wanted to post about our Stake Conference this weekend. There's a few really awesome things about living in Salt Lake City. First, our Stake Center (where we had the Saturday evening session of conference) is only one block away from our apartment, and it looks like a castle.


Second is that we had the Sunday morning session of conference at the old Assembly Hall on Temple Square.


Gorgeous, isn't it? I managed to get some pictures of the inside before and after the conference. This is the organ (aaah, I love it!):


And here is a mural on the ceiling:


After conference we walked around the square for a while, and I took some pictures. Here's one of a statue of Joseph Smith.


Third cool thing is that you run into people that you never thought you'd run into. I was sitting with the kids on our pew, and I happened to glance over to another pew and see my Young Women leader from when I was in high school - in California! Never thought I'd see her here! Turns out she just moved up here, just like we did, and now we're in the same stake. What a fun coincidence. She's the one that gave me the recipe for the delicious shrimp appetizer that I make for Jeff and I every Valentine's Day.

I thought that now might be a pretty good time to announce that, even though I was miserable to be moving here to Salt Lake a few months ago, I recently discovered that I actually like it here! It has sort of snuck up on me, and then it just hit me that not only am I tolerating the area, but I actually really like it. I love the library, I love that we're within walking distance of D.I., Smith's, Big Lots, Walgreens, and our ward building and stake center. I love that we're so close to Temple Square that we can just take the Trax and it's free the whole way. I love that our Wal-Mart is so huge that I can find pretty much everything there - it even has a fabric section, which has been removed from most Wal-Marts. I love that I'm surrounded by beautiful buildings with history and architechtural interest. I don't even mind driving anymore. I don't go out of my way to find an excuse to drive, but I don't avoid it either. I've driven to American Fork twice, and I don't freak out on the huge freeways anymore.

However, I still don't like living in such a tiny apartment. That's something that I don't think will ever change! :-)

Stephanie Needs...

This was on Rachel's blog and Sarah's blog. Thought I'd join in! Google your name followed by the word needs. (ie...bob needs) and write the first 10 things that come up.

Stephanie needs...
1. some help. Look at those pants!
2. to be in a family where there are no other children or animals.
3. a behavior modification approach to deal with some residual effects and strong-willed ness.
4. is on Facebook.
5. to get a life!!!!
6. a family who can help her strive to participate in structured recreational and social activities.
7. a date for Valentine's Day!
8. help in locating a job in the kingston area to stop me from driving to work in belleville.
9. a sound proofed home to protect her.
10. a loving home.

There were some weird ones (apparently according to my number 4, there's actually someone named Stephanie Needs). I came across several other blogs and stuff that had this exact list thing, but I tried not to copy their lists (though I could have).

Having Fun Sewing

I've only had my sewing machine for a few days, but I think I'm already addicted to it. I keep searching online for free sewing patterns. I have found several for repurposing old t-shirts. This appeals to me because I am a t-shirt hoarder. I've kept t-shirts from girls' camp, band, theater, CPR Saturday, youth conference, and those t-shirts they give out when you donate blood. I have a lot of t-shirts! But they're not stylish so I never wear them except occasionally as a pajama top.

I found this pattern for repurposing a t-shirt as yoga pants. I've seen patterns for making toddler pajama pants out of an adult shirt, but never something in my size. I was so excited that I had to go digging through my drawer to find the perfect shirt to turn into pants for me! No, I don't do yoga, but since when do you have to actually do yoga in order to wear a comfy pair of yoga pants? ;-)

Here's the finished result. I should have taken a picture of the original t-shirt, but I was too excited to actually get cutting and sewing.


In this picture, I'm also wearing one of the shirts that I got from the free pile earlier today. This is the only thing that actually fit me well, so everything else will be chopped up and sewed into something else.

I'm having so much fun with my awesome new sewing machine!!!

New Clothes to Repurpose

I had my Women at the Well rehearsal this morning, and it went pretty well. But the exciting part of the day came as I was walking home from rehearsal. Just before our street, I passed a rack of clothes and a couple piles of miscellaneous stuff, right next to a box that said "FREE." I hurried home to drop off my music, but I knew that I had to go back to the free stuff! So I tossed Zaylee into some shoes and a jacket and we headed over to see what we could find. Zaylee had fun playing with a stick and petting the dog that was in the yard (a very friendly collie), while I riffled through to find interesting clothes that could be repurposed. I ended up with two shirts, two skirts, a dress, and a pair of jeans.


I'm going to try them all on - if any fit and look just great I'll probably keep them for myself. But I purposefully chose things with interesting fabrics and patterns so that if they don't fit, I can cut them up and sew them into something new. Zaylee could use a few new dresses. :-)

Thomas' Pants

I've been working on Thomas' new pants for a couple days, and they're finally done! Well, mostly done. I still have to reinforce the seams, but the pants are wearably done. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the shirt I used to make the pants - it was actually a pretty ugly shirt, but I knew that the stripes would make for some really cute pants.


I couldn't get Thomas to stand up while wearing them - he wanted to sit and drink his water. But here's a couple pics of him wearing his cute new pants.



I also have his new shirt cut out, I just have to piece it together. I don't know if I'll have it done in time for Church on Sunday, but if not that's okay - he does have other shirts even though they are a bit on the small side. I can't wait until the whole outfit is done - Thomas is going to be so stinkin' cute when he wears it!

My New Book

We went to the thrift store (D.I.) this morning, just the kids and I. My specific purpose was to find fabric (via sheets or repurposable clothes) to make Thomas some new church clothes. I did find a pale green sheet that will make an adorable button-up collar shirt, and a large men's woven shirt that I will cut up to make into some matching pants. I can even use the buttons from the shirt I'm cutting up for the shirt I'm making. And there will be extra fabric from the large shirt to make a little bowtie or something to match the pants. Anyway, it will be a very cute little suit when I'm done with it.

After finding the sheet and shirt, the kids and I browsed the books for a while. I love looking for old cookbooks. Not old as in "blah," but old as in "wow that's so old it's cool!" And I found one that's really cool - the Southern Living 1983 Annual Recipes book. Every Southern Living recipe that was published the year that I was born. I get sentimental about my birth year. I even have a stack of Ensigns from 1983 - not all the months, but most of them. So it was exciting for me to find a big cookbook from that year.


There are a few photographs thrown in here and there, but it's mostly hand-drawn pictures, if any pictures are given at all. So awesome!


Anyway, keep an eye out for when I post Thomas' new suit. I haven't started on it yet, but I will shortly. I'm so excited! All in all, I consider this to have been a very successful D.I. run.

My New Toy

We discovered Big Lots the other day. Among many other fun and inexpensive items, including furniture and foods, there was a small stack of refurbished sewing machines in the top shelf in one of the aisles. Oh how I wanted one! But we had walked that day and couldn't carry it home, plus at $62, while that is inexpensive for a sewing machine, it wasn't exactly a small purchase and I had conflicted feelings. I wanted the sewing machine, but could I justify spending that much money on anything?

After a lot of thinking and vacillating back and forth on the issue, Jeff finally went back to Big Lots yesterday and bought me the sewing machine. Isn't he awesome?!


We waited to open it until the kids were in bed. I read the whole instruction book, ran the machine threadless for a couple seconds, and basically just oohed and aahed and experimented with my fun new toy.


This morning I used my new sewing machine to add about a yard of length to the wrap I made for Thomas, just like I said I wanted to. Now I can carry him in a few other positions that weren't really possible when it was shorter.

And I'm just so excited because there are so many things I can make now that I have a sewing machine! Thomas has outgrown most of his Sunday outfits, so I'd like to make him some new pants and a nice shirt. And I can make dresses for Zaylee and shirts for me and all sorts of fun things! Oh goodie!!!!

Budding Artist

Zaylee was doodling on her little DoodlePro this afternoon, and Jeff and I were thrilled when she showed us what she had drawn:


This is the first time we've seen that she's drawn faces that are recognizable as faces, with eyes and mouths. She's growing so fast! Zaylee says the one on the left is "Girl" (how she sometimes refers to herself), the middle one is "Daddy" and the one on the right is "Mommy" - kinda funny how close to being accurate her proportions actually are - Jeff's head is quite large and Zaylee's is quite small. :-)

The Attic in the Basement, Right Next to the Crystal Caves

We went to the library. Well actually, we have been to the library several times but this time I brought the camera to prove how awesome the children's section really is.

When I first walked up to the library building, the first thing I noticed (after the sheer size; can that huge building actually be a library?) is the fact that it's made of five stories of glass. It was hard to keep from having that "I'm from a small town and have never seen a library like this" look from being plastered all over my face as I gaped at the sky through the ceiling once we got inside. To get to the children's section (where we have spent most of our time) you take the glass elevator down to the basement level. Practically the entire floor is dedicated to children's books, with benches and couches for reading, computers for working or playing, and...



...The Attic.


The attic is an entire room in the children's section for playing. It's a wooden room that is designed to look like a Gramma's attic but without the mess of antiques and dust all over. There are lots of big teddy bears to play with...


And plenty of places to sit and read a book...


Or just sit without reading...


The attic is a fun place to play!



Located conveniently near the attic are the Crystal Caves. Though not quite as impressive as the attic, the caves are a nice place to wander around...


And a good place to sit and relax.


We love our local library!

Netted Bag for Tub Toys

The Problem:
With limited shelf space in the tub, the kids' tub toys end up in a big messy pile on the space saver in the shower, displacing various cleansers and making my razor hard to get to.


The Solution:
I crocheted a simple netted bag to hang on the space saver, in which the toys fit nicely.


Now everything looks neater and is more accessible, and the kids have a cute bag to keep their tub toys in. The bag took only about half an hour to crochet.

A Post About Two Things

First: A Cheap Alternative to Building Blocks

Zaylee and Thomas discovered that when they empty the canned foods cabinet, they can stack the cans over and over for hours of fun!





Second: Some Great D.I. Finds

We went to D.I. a couple days ago and found some great stuff! The original plan was to look for a sewing machine. We went to the D.I. closest to our apartment. No sewing machines, but we found a Moses basket for $2. We don't actually need it right now, but for a price like that I couldn't pass it up. We might need it someday! It came without a liner, but I can make one later.


Then we tried the next closest D.I. (being in Salt Lake, they're pretty much all over the place). Again, no sewing machine (well, there were a couple but they were probably older than I am). But we did find a little stroller. We have a double stroller that we have really enjoyed using, but it is very large and bulky, and a nightmare to get up and down the stairs of the apartment, especially with two small children in tow. So when we found this smaller stroller for $4, we grabbed it up.


I can put Zaylee in the stroller while I carry Thomas in the wrap, or I can put Thomas in the stroller and let Zaylee walk. It works well either way. Plus it folds up so small and is uber portable!


Next to the double stroller. Which would you rather cart up and down a flight of stairs? :-)

That's a Wrap!

The other day I was surfing the 'Net and came across a wonderful website dedicated to babywearing. I don't remember how I got there but I stayed on that site for a long time, studying the various babywearing techniques and types. The more I looked at it the more I wanted a baby wrap of my own. There are instructions on how to make your own - so seriously simple that I decided I couldn't wait and had to have one right away! I dug out a box of fabrics from under Zaylee's bed (I had to remove the mattress and several of the supports to do so; the box was all the way in the back corner) and chose a fabric. I had purchased it at D.I. a few years ago and never really done anything with it. All I had to do was cut a strip of fabric 12 feet long (that's as long as the fabric was) and 25 inches wide, and I had a wrap!

Then came the fun part. I started practicing all the wrapping techiques I could, at first using one of Zaylee's babydolls for practice. After I got more confident, I practiced a bit on Thomas (remember my last post, where I said he wanted nothing to do with it?) then went back to working on the doll. Since then I've used the wrap with Thomas a couple times: when we went shopping on Monday and on a walk yesterday. He's very much warmed up to the wrap when he realizes that it means he gets to go outside!

Here's the wrap - just a simple piece of fabric (ignore the silly look on my face; I hate taking my own picture!):


And two of my favorite ways to carry Thomas - on the hip:


And on the back:


Neat, huh? I kind of want to sew another foot or two onto the end so that I can do some of the other carries that require a bit more length, but for the time being (until I get a sewing machine) I'll just enjoy it the way it is. :-)

I'm Not Needed - And That's a Good Thing

At the moment my children don't need me. In fact, they don't even want me. Zaylee and Thomas are playing in their room. Together. Happily. There is laughter coming through the door. This is a rarity in our house.

I keep peeking in. I just made a wrap to use for toting Thomas around (it's easier than lugging the double stroller up and down the stairs in the apartment), and have been pulling Thomas from his play to practice the various positions for carrying him. Each time, the position works, but Thomas struggles for all he's worth to get back down to Zaylee and the toys. The kids want me out of the room - they want to be left alone to play.

Right now, I'm not needed.

And that's a good thing.

Some Pictures

I've been getting really into the digital photography book that Michelle gave me for my birthday way back in November. I'm learning to use my camera better, and get good pictures despite it being just a simple point-and-shoot. Today it was snowing, and I was excited to look out the window at the snow-covered shrubs and see picture opportunities. So I bundled up a bit and took the camera out. Here's the best shots from my little excursion to the bushes beneath our window.

For this one I laid down in the snow on my back to get a shot of the underside of the branches. Everyone sees the snowy shrubs from the top, how many people actually look at the bottom?


These were some stark little branches by the entry wall. I like how the wall in the background acts as sort of a frame.


And this is my favorite picture. I wanted to try to get a focal point in this picture, so I chose a little leaf and, following the Rule of Thirds, positioned it in the left third of the picture.


For the above picture, I used a trick I learned from the book about auto-focus. When you want your subject to be off-center but still in focus, center the subject in the viewfinder (or LCD screen since my camera doesn't have a separate viewfinder) and hold the button down halfway. The auto-focus focuses on the subject because it's in the middle. Then, while continuing to hold the button halfway, shift the camera so the subject is where you want it. Then press the button the rest of the way to take the picture. The camera is still auto-focused on the subject, even though it's no longer in the center of the picture. Neat, huh?

Lucky...

Lucky you! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or maybe even some creation I haven't even invented yet. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!* * *

Night at the Museum

Okay, actually it was an afternoon at the museum, but I thought that would be a fun title.

Yesterday after my Women at the Well rehearsal, we went with Jeff's sister Joy and her family to the Utah Museum of Natural History. We had a really good time there, looking at all the exhibits, letting the kids explore a bit, and spending time with family.

I don't want to do a big, long post with a bunch of writing, so I'll just post some pictures of the stuff we saw and did.

Here's Zaylee (and cousin Marilee in the background) at the dinosaur "dig," where the kids get to use brushes to wipe sand off dinosaur bones.


Sorry for the blur, the museum doesn't allow flash, and the lighting wasn't all that great. All the pictures I took of the kids turned out like this or worse, so this is the only one I'm posting.

Next is one of the displays in anthropology. These are some of the tools that ancient people used in their everyday life.


Next up is the drawer of shoes. In a small corner of the anthropology department, there are three drawers you can pull out and look at real ancient shoes under glass. These were the moccasins of early American Indians. I mainly am mentioning this because of the smell. When you open the drawers you get this enormous whiff of centuries-old foot odor - whew!!! Still, it's a neat display.


After the rock gallery (where we saw a quartz three times the size of Zaylee's head and an enormous variety of minerals and stones of various sizes, shapes, and colors) we headed into the bug gallery. Zaylee and Thomas were particularly fascinated with this part of the museum, as they got to see triops and ants and beetles and all manner of creepy crawlies. My personal favorite was the tarantula.


Friendly-looking little guy, isn't he? He was hiding in a dark burrow at the bottom of his case, and there's a button to press to turn on the light so you can see him. Jeff's niece Jaime let out a yelp every time she saw the tarantula (she's 10, or 11?). At several inches in length, I have to admit he was a bit yelp-inspiring and I let out a gasp when I first saw him too!

Next up was the "zoo" of the museum, where there are a variety of taxidermied animals. Like this wolf:


I had fun taking this picture, trying to get a good close angle. I wish there wasn't a glare from the glass case, it would have been much more realistic looking!

The last display room housed the dinosaur bones. Here's a mother dinosaur standing guard over her nest.


We finished up the tour by creating earthquakes (there's a place on the floor where you jump and it records it on a seismograph. Joy's husband Jim made the biggest "earthquake" - he's got quite a jump!), looking at a 3-D topography map of the area (complete with those goofy red and blue 3-D glasses), and wandering around the gift shop. Jeff and I, of course, didn't buy anything because we're ultra cheap, but if we weren't saving money there was an awesome Native American cradle that I would have loved to get, for only $200! lol...

After that we had to call it a day. Jeff and I had talks to write (we spoke in Church today) and soup to make (we had a linger-longer after Church today). I got my talk written, but I had a killer migraine due to having spent the afternoon walking around. So my talk was kind of short - I made it as long as I could before I simply had to stop from the pain.

About the linger-longer: We made turkey vegetable soup. The broth was homemade, from when we simmered our turkey carcass for two days, and there were potatoes and carrots and celery and onion and cabbage and barley, and of course turkey. It was so delicious! At the linger-longer there were a beautiful array of homemade soups. I'm sad I only got to try three or four of them. But they were sure good!

Now it's time for dinner, I think we'll have soup...

Girls' Night out and LOVE Banners

Last night I had a girls' night out with Angie (of The American Homemaker) and some other girls, and we had a great time! First we snacked on some delicious treats that we each had brought, like spinach artichoke dip (I love that stuff, I was in heaven!) on French bread, warm and chocolaty brownies, barbecue chicken bites, and some delicious chocolate truffles that I made yesterday just for the occasion. After that we got crafty and made some adorable Valentine cards and LOVE banners. We used Angie's papers and craft supplies and everyone came up with something different for their banners, but they were all so fun. I didn't have my camera with me to take pics of everyone's stuff, but here's my banner hung delightfully above my couch.


I did mine in vintage colors (so soft and romantic!), while some of the others chose to use pinks and reds for a bright and cheerful Valentine's look. Here's the banner that Angie made last night, and here's the link to her tutorial on how to make them, if you want to make your own. Lots of fun!

Cleaning Up

I witnessed what I consider to be the pinnacle of my bad housekeeping skills this evening as I watched Jeff use the hose attachment to vacuum the gunk off the table before dinner.

Can I really be that bad of a housekeeper? I guess so.

I keep wanting to get on and post something, but every time I think I'll try, I can't think of anything to post about! Life has been fairly boring around here lately. The kids and I get up, eat breakfast, hang out all morning, eat lunch, Thomas takes a nap while Zaylee and I hang out more, Thomas wakes up, Jeff gets home, we eat dinner, the kids go to bed, we hang out some more, and then go to bed and that's the end of the day. Not much to blog about. But it always kind of bugs me to leave an unpleasant post at the very top for long. I don't like being reminded of that lovely middle-of-the-night bout of neighborly illness every time I log on.

So, here I am, blogging about nothing. Let me see if I can think of something to write....


My hand smells like cheese. We had homemade pizza for dinner and now my hand smells like cheese. While I was pressing out the dough for the crust, Zaylee said, "Oh, you're making pizza!" It warmed my heart to know that we make our own pizza often enough for Zaylee to be able to recognize when I'm doing it.

She also recognizes when I'm making cookies.


Hmm. What else can I blog about? There are dishes piled up in the sink. You know, I'm not entirely convinced that we do dishes more often now that we have a dishwasher than we did before. It's still an inconvenience - the dishwasher is weak so all the dishes have to be rinsed well before being put in. And when the door to the washer is open, I have to stand around it and lean uncomfortably to the side in order to rinse the dishes in the sink. So I put forth about the same amount of effort and experience more physical discomfort using the dishwasher than I did washing by hand. So why do I keep using the dishwasher? Because it's there. We have it, so I have to use it. Silly, I know, but there you have it.


And there you have my completely pointless post that I wrote simply because I had nothing better to do (well, nothing except doing the dishes. But I already explained why I don't want to do that).

Neighbors and Thin Walls

I made an interesting discovery last night.

I learned that when our upstairs neighbor wakes up at 2 o'clock in the morning with an upset stomach, and goes into the bathroom and retches violently for several minutes at a time, several times throughout the night...

I can hear the whole thing loud and clear. Even with ear plugs.

I can't wait to get our own house.

Tightening the Belt

Jeff and I sometimes get tired of living in a tiny apartment. It gets old having to trip over boxes on your way from the bed to the closet because there is no place to unpack the contents of said boxes. It isn't easy to cook meals in a kitchen the size of a small closet. We would love to be able to work on our food storage, but there is no place to put the food. Long story short, we don't want to live in an apartment for the rest of our lives!

We have a few monetary goals that we're trying to work toward. First is paying off our student loans. This year's tax return will be very helpful in that! Right after student loans our major goal is saving for a down payment on a house. We also want to get a minivan - so Jeff can take the car to work and I can have a vehicle at my disposal while he's gone during the day.

I can't express how much I long to have my own house. To live in a place that is ours - a place that we can paint, put up real curtains, do stuff with! A house that has storage space and a big kitchen, a big yard with a fence so the kids can go outside and play like kids are supposed to do! And we're nearing a point in our family composition and situation where a real home with lots of rooms is more than just a nice thing to dream about; it's almost a necessity. I mean, try fitting a baby into the tiny space we occupy now - it ain't happening! (no, we're not pregnant, but not opposed to getting there sometime soon...)

We've been going over our finances the past few days, and realizing that if we want this dream to become a reality in the next year or two, we are really going to have to tighten the budgetary belt. We want to work on saving money (even more than we already do!) in as many ways as possible. I'm trying to turn off lights when the room is not in use, or when it's bright enough outside to let in the light from the window. Shorter showers and less water for dishes is also on the list.

But the biggest thing for us that we can save on right now is groceries and little miscellaneous expenses. Anyone who is familiar with my food blog knows that we already eat really cheaply. But we are working on going even further. We have started eating a nearly vegetarian diet - meat is pricey so we avoid it when we can unless we can buy it at a very low price. I'm working on using more beans and whole grains as sources of protein, as opposed to relying on meats to build a meal. I've been practically devouring my More-with-Less Cookbook, finding simple and super inexpensive recipes and ideas that will reduce our grocery bill.

We have set a limit to spend no more than $30 a week on groceries, and $20 on non-grocery items (such as diapers and wipes, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, etc.). We did our shopping for the week today, and spent $25 on food and $10 on wet wipes. That includes a turkey - Jeff noticed that the big 20-pound turkeys were on sale for twenty-five cents per pound, so we bought one. We'll roast the whole thing, take all the meat off the bones and freeze it in meal-sized portions, and boil the carcass to make broth. I can't even begin to count the meals that we'll get off this bird! Jeff will be glad I posted about the turkey - he hasn't been able to stop talking about it since he put it in the cart. :-)

Anyway, with the budget changes we're making, we hope to be able to buy a house next year. It will be hard to live such an extremely tightwad lifestyle, but I think it will be so worth it when we finally are able to sign the papers, walk into a house, look around, and say, "This is our very own home."

First Rehearsal

This morning I had my first rehearsal for Women at the Well. We read through all the naration and listened to the songs on the CD. Then we started learning the background parts for the first song. The lady in charge handed out the sheet music for our individual songs so we can start practicing on our own. I'm so excited about this program, it will be lots of fun to participate in this with these talented women. The director is an events coordinator for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the choreographer for the one dance number that will be performed during one of the songs is a professional dancer who does everything from ballet to tap to jazz to Irish clogging. While we were taking a break she and another lady sat and talked about ballet, their favorite styles and whose rendition of this or that ballet they prefer, and what the hand movements signify when performed by the dancers. It was really informative and interesting to listen to!

Anyway, I got the music for the song I'll be singing. I'm the second song in the program, and it's so pretty! I sing a song about the woman with the issue of blood who was healed by touching the Savior's clothes. Some of the notes are really low, but I think I'll be able to handle it. This evening while Jeff was making dinner (thanks, sweetie!) I sang through it over and over, trying to learn the rhythm and notes and everything. I get to have my own individual practice this Wednesday to go over my song with the pianist. I'm looking forward to it! I get to pretend that I'm the star for about 45 minutes. :-)

He Speaks!

Thomas has words! This is really exciting for me to be able to post, because he's 18 months old and thus far has been silent on the speaking front. He babbles like nobody's business, but hasn't really had any words. But with the help of his clothes, I have been able to teach Thomas a few little words. I would point to the object on his shirt and say what it was, and after a few times, he would point and repeat it. So cute!

He has a shirt with bugs on it. I taught him to say bug - "Duh!"

He has a shirt with a train on it. I taught him to say train - "Deh!"

He has a shirt with fish on it. I taught him to say fish - "Ish!"

I'm so proud of him!

Icky Sicky!

Thomas has had a stuffy drippy nose for several days, but I didn't really think much of it until Jeff and I got sick too! Do you other moms ever do that? You notice that your kid has a cold, but don't really do much more than mercilessly keep their nose wiped. Then suddenly you have a cold too and life is noticeably more miserable! Poor little Thomas, he was so uncomplaining. But now Jeff and I have the cough, the snifflies, and the aches. And we realize how bad Thomas must have felt. Jeff was actually so sick yesterday that he stayed home from Church. Zaylee was really listless and under the weather, so we let her and Jeff stay home while I went with Thomas.

Anyway, from now on I think I'll try to be a little more loving when I notice one of the kids has the snifflies. It may not seem like a big deal to me, but to the person who is sick, it really is awful!


On a different note, one of my food blogging events has me so excited! I participate in My Kitchen My World, where we are assigned a country every week and have to prepare a meal from that country. This week it's Azerbaijan. That really threw me off at first. Azerbaijan? I've never really even thought about Azerbaijan, let alone cooking something from there! But then I found a blog that features Azeri recipes. I found some really good ones, and now I'm really excited about making them this week and posting them on Saturday - mostly the dessert!

Yippee!

I was called today and informed that I have a part in the Relief Society musical program I auditioned for on Wednesday. Hooray! I'll be singing the second song in the program, called "Close Enough to Touch." It's about the woman with the "issue of blood" that touched Christ's robes and was healed. Really pretty song. And I might be accompanying some of the songs on the piano. I'm so excited that I get to participate in this! I just hope that when it comes time to perform, I won't be as shaky and breathy as I was for the audition. I know I'll be as nervous, but maybe my voice won't show it quite so much... ;-)

One Word

I got this in an e-mail and thought I would post my answers. It's fun to fill these things out! :-)

TYPE ONLY ONE WORD. IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? none
2. Your significant other? work
3. Your hair? frizzy
4. Your mother? school
5. Your father? work
6. Your favorite thing? food
7. Your dream last night? forgot
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your goal? skinny
10. The room you're in? clean! :-)
11. Your fear? death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? rich
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. What you're not? confident
15. Muffins? homemade
16. One of your wish list items? house
17. Where you grew up? military
18. The last thing you did? lunch
19. What are you wearing? frump
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pet(s)? none
22. Your computer? internet
23. Your life? boring
24. Your mood? calm
25. Missing someone? mom
26. Your car? white
27. Something you're not wearing? glasses
28. Favorite store? D.I.
29. Your summer? hot
30. Your favorite color? teal
31. When is the last time you laughed? today
32. Last time you cried? forgot
33. Four places I go over and over? church, home, D.I., Wal-mart
34. Four of my favorite foods? chocolate, pizza, nachos, bread
35. Four places I would rather be right now? Sleeping, shopping, vacation, Idaho
36. Someone you fell in love with? Jeff <3

Audition

Our Stake Relief Society is putting together a musical performance that will be performed in March, and the audition was tonight. I don't harbor any conceptions of myself as a great singer, but I do love to sing and think that my voice isn't all that terrible to listen to, so I went and auditioned. This is the first time I've auditioned for anything since college, so even though it's just for a simple Relief Society performance, I was shaking in my boots the whole time! The audition consisted of each woman singing one verse of a hymn, any hymn of her choosing. I chose Our Savior's Love. I think my rendition was rather shaky and breathy, since I was so nervous, but I don't think it was too bad. Besides, everyone else also sang shakily and breathily, because apparently I wasn't the only nervous one! I'll find out by Monday if I got a part.

There was another lady from my ward there, and after we were done, she asked if I wanted to sing a duet with her just for fun. There were only five women there to audition at first, so when everyone was done, she and I went over to the piano and had the pianist play for us while we sang together for a while. The pianist was a good sport about it :-) and we had a good time singing harmony together. Then another woman showed up to audition and we couldn't monopolize the pianist anymore. Rather than go home right away, we found another piano in the building and sang some more! I played the piano and did the alto part while my friend sang the soprano. We sounded so good together and had a great time! Then we chatted for a while before finally deciding that we needed to get home. But not before agreeing that we should do a duet in Sacrament Meeting some time. As ward music chair, I think I can arrange that. :-)

It was so fun to sing together with another girl. Michelle and I used to sing together a lot - we'd switch off harmonizing during the hymns in church, and we put together a song from Feivel Goes West that we sang for a talent show once. I always enjoyed making music with my sister, and tonight I got to enjoy a similar good time. Music is an important part of my life, so it's always neat to be able to share that passion for singing with someone else. So whether I got a part in the Relief Society production or not, I'm glad I auditioned tonight.

Yay for D.I.!

Jeff and I went to D.I. on Monday to find a bookshelf for all my cookbooks (it's about time we get rid of all the stacks of books on the organ - it deserves better than that). While there, Jeff checked out the video section and we hit the jackpot:


Four Disney movies and Muppet Treasure Island, for $2 each - that's right, all those movies for a total of ten bucks. There were lots of other Disney videos there, but we had to exercise some restraint. Zaylee has been having a blast watching these movies! I love D.I.!

We also got a little bookshelf that will be perfect for my cookbooks, and I got a couple new shirts. You can't buy just one thing when you shop at a thrift store. :-)

Just, um, ignore the sock and the couch cushions on the floor...

Busy, Great Week!

This post could have been broken down into several more detailed posts if I had been diligent about blogging every day. But as it is, I need to blog this stuff before more time passes, or I won't ever get it done!

Jeff's sister and her husband were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple today, so we've had lots of stuff leading up to that. On Wednesday, Jeff's parents arrived. We went over to Joy and Jim's house and spent some time with them, then all of us went out for all-you-can-eat Chinese. So much delicious food! My favorite was the deep-fried biscuits coated in sugar - go figure it would be something I could easily make at home. Sometimes the simplest foods are the best.

On Thursday, I had a girls' night out with a blogging buddy and several other girls. We went to an artisan bakery/cafe and got delicious desserts, and just chatted the evening away. It was so nice to be able to spend time with new friends and have some "mommy time" away from the kids and the apartment. I don't really get out much normally, so it was a special treat for me! The drive home was quite hectic - it was raining hard and the lines on the freeway were next to impossible to see! But I made it home safely.

Friday was extra special. Joy (Jeff's sister) received her Endowment at the Temple and Jeff and I got to be in attendance for that. Aunt Karen watched the kids and they had a great time. As for Jeff and I, it was the first time that we'd been in the Salt Lake Temple, and it was absolutely beautiful! It was so neat to know that we were in the Temple that the early saints spent 40 years building, so many people worked and sacrificed for it. The artwork and architectural details were just gorgeous - even the doorknobs were lovely! The whole experience was just wonderful.

That brings us to today, when Joy and Jim were sealed. Jeff and I went grocery shopping in the morning, as we were out of such essentials as milk and eggs. Then this afternoon Karen and Bill watched the kids as Jeff and I went back to the Temple. Joy and Jim were sealed for time and eternity, and then their children were sealed to them as well. I have to say I started crying when the kids were brought in, all wearing white. They looked so sweet and innocent! After the ceremony and the pictures outside the Temple, Jeff and I picked up the kids and everyone went over to the Olive Garden for a delicious dinner. There were over twenty people in our party - we were quite the group! Silly Thomas didn't want anything to do with the macaroni and cheese that we ordered for him - he kept reaching over for bites of Jeff's Chicken Parmesan. With the chicken Jeff shared and all the bread sticks that Thomas filled up on, he got plenty to eat.

All in all, it's been a wonderful week that we got to share with lots of wonderful friends and family.

Oh Migraine!

For anyone that didn't know, I get migraines. The really big ones, like you see on commercials for migraine medication. You know, where they show a woman holding her head in her hands saying, "My migraines are so bad I wish I could remove my head." Or where there's a big group of people just walking around minding their own business, and a huge boulder falls on one of them, and a voice says, "Do your migraines wipe you out?" Yeah, I get those kind of migraines, I've had them since I was a little girl.


It starts with a little pressure, and if I don't take something quick, it turns into an immense pounding pain in one temple. If the room is too bright, it gets worse. If there's noise anywhere, it gets worse. If there's a funny smell, it gets worse. When it gets really bad, I get nauseous and my stomach hurts...which makes my head hurt worse. Basically, I get really bad migraines.


Yesterday evening I had one.


What I wanted to do was take a whole bottle of Ibuprofen, lay down in my bed with the door locked, the lights off, and a pillow over my head, slowly choking me into unconsciousness. What I had to do was make dinner. It was after 5:00, and Jeff hadn't come home yet. The kids were hungry, and when they're hungry they're fussy. And noisy. I had to make the noise stop.


So I threw together some hot tuna salad and flatbread, all the while trying to ignore the hammer slamming itself repeatedly into the side of my head. Man, that hammer was annoying. I made up a little ditty that I sang to myself over and over. The tune is from Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog.

A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do,
That's why I'm standing here making dinner for you,
Even though this migraine's slowly pounding me to death,
So please give me a sec to catch my breath.

Not bad, huh?

Jeff came home while dinner was baking. Oh joy, oh reprieve! I smiled brightly and let him know that he was now in charge.


He kept the kids under control while I threw myself dramatically (though gently - rough movements make the pain worse) onto the couch. I stayed there through dinner, unable to get up because of that stupid hammer and my slowly-starting-to-ache stomach. After the kids were fed, though, Jeff woke me from my pain-induced stupor to tell me he had to leave for an appointment. I was alone with the kids again. I got them out of their booster seats and sat them in front of the computer with Homestar Runner to entertain them. I choked down some dinner, knowing that sometimes eating helps the migraine to go away. Then it was back onto the couch for the rest of the evening. Jeff had to put the kids to bed by himself.

By the time I staggered to bed at 10:00, the hammer had slowed down, and wasn't hitting me quite so hard. And when I got up this morning, the pain was gone. But talking, writing, or even thinking about a migraine tends to give me a migraine, so I'd better end this post now. I'm starting to feel that little bit of pressure right behind my eye...

The Library

True to form, although I absolutely love libraries I haven't yet ventured into the local public library yet. Today though, I made a big step in that direction, figuratively. I looked it up online. I found that it's less than a mile away, within walking distance. Then I looked up the library's website. And I am utterly amazed.

I'm used to little libraries. Everywhere I've lived has had a small public library - one floor, each section includes several bookshelves, a little play place and children's book section. Small and simple. But the Salt Lake City Public Library, well, I should have expected it to be different. After all, everything in SLC is bigger than I'm used to, why not the library?

Image from SLCPL website

The SLC Public Library is huge. There are five floors. I would jump out the door and go there right now if it weren't cold and snowy - I don't want to take the kids and the stroller out in that. But you can bet that as soon as I can get away without the kids, I'll be heading to the library!!